Friday, 27 April 2012

EARTHQUAKES, LANDSLIDES AND RAIN- Welcome to Aceh!

Huge Sumatra With Aceh in the far north

On our second trip together in 1999, we had big plans to
travel through the Indian
sub-continent, to South-east Asia,
through Indonesia to Australia. We
had a great trip, but ran out of money before the Indonesian part, flew to a
new life in Oz, and never got around
to going back to Sumatra........until
now- 13 years later!

Was it worth the wait? Absolutely!

The old days of boat travel to Sumatra from Malaysia are
pretty much over, thanks to new, budget airlines. We had booked a flight many
months ago from KL to Banda Aceh in the far north of Sumatra for $25 (inclusive of taxes,
luggage etc.)- cheaper than the boat used to be, and only an hour and a half
flight.

We had an idea Banda
Aceh would be a stuffy place, police roaming around, and people piously
religious. This was far from the truth. Although Sharia law is officially
enforced (strict rules regarding the conduct of Muslims, including a conservative
dress code, capital punishment, homosexuality being illegal) , as tourists, we
felt only that it had an easy-going feeling, with people as friendly as any
other Indonesian city. The population seemed prosperous and well-educated, with
many going to foreign countries for study- probably the result of the huge
amount of aid and support pumped into the region post-2004 tsunami.

Gazing at the gorgeous Raya Baiturrahman Mosque in town, and
wandering around the market area and river, we enjoyed our few days stay. Banda Aceh was, of course, very close
to the epicenter of the 2004 tsunami, and the town, along with many others were
decimated, and many thousands of people died. Most of the town has been
rebuilt, but there are a number of “tsunami sights” around as a reminder, including
a boat that was washed 4 kms inland, landing on top of a house.

Raya Baiturrahman Mosque, Banda Aceh

Raya Baiturrahman Mosque, Banda Aceh

Same mosqueafter 2004 tsunami

Raya Baiturrahman Mosque, Banda Aceh

Market, Banda Aceh

"Boat on the house", Banda Aceh

Same scene just after 2004 tsunami

Names of some tsunami victims, Tsunami Museum, Banda Aceh

We took the slow boat across to Pulau Weh, a destination that had taken on almost mythical proportions
in our minds, from the descriptions and conversations we’d had with many a traveler over the past couple of years. It’s the old problem with expectations
again, but I’m afraid we have to be a disappointment to backpackers throughout Asia, who rave about this place, and
admit that we just didn’t really get it. It was nice enough, and as a diver or
serious snorkeler it’s sure to be paradise (we
are certainly not- we love mucking about with a snorkel close to shore, and are
happyto see loads of fish and colorful
coral is a bonus, but it does not make or break a destination for us). As
an island/rustic/chill-out type location, it really doesn’t compare to the
islands in the AndamanSea in Thailand on which we’ve been hanging out on for the past 4 months. We
enjoyed our week here, but were keen to get back to the mainland and visit some
more remote locations.

Vehicles on the Pulau Weh ferry

Pulau Weh

Pulau Weh

The day after we arrived back in Banda Aceh, we were having a nap in the afternoon, and were
awakened by what we later discovered to be an 8.6 earthquake. Richard would
like to contribute to the blog at this stage:

We were snoozing, with
me naked on the bed, when we were woken by the hotel room shaking and swaying vigorously.
It was immediately obvious what was happening, although we haven’t been in an
earthquake before, and we grabbed our clothes and valuables, which were,
luckily, close at hand, and ran down the hallway, and three flights of stairs,
me pulling on my shorts. Out on the street in front of the hotel other guests were
already evacuated, some in distress. The ground was shaking, and we watched a
street light swaying for the less than 10 minutes it lasted. It was like trying
to stand in a canoe. Having later read various media reports reporting “mass
hysteria” or people running around shouting ”God is great”, we saw nothing but
calmness, although there was obviously some nervousness, as a result of the
locals having being through this before, but much worse, in 2004. There were
people moving around on the streets, probably trying to get home, but mostly in
an orderly fashion. After about 2 hours, we returned to our third floor room to
communicate with friends and family that we were OK, when a huge aftershock
occurred, and we had to run outside again. We did hurry at one stage, when
someone ran into the foyer shouting “tsunami”, and everyone ran upstairs to the
roof. We all stayed up here for an hour or so, before hearing on the local news
that the tsunami warning had been cancelled. Interestingly, we never heard the
tsunami warning sirens put in place after the 2004 tsunami, and it transpires
that, although they were visually tested regularly, no-one had thought to
switch them on to see if the sound was working.

Incredibly, despite the magnitude, there was little building
damage or loss of life. The experts say it was the 10th worst earthquake in
the world in 100 years, and the only one not to cause a tsunami. Banda Aceh must surely be the best place to be in Sumatra for an earthquake, as all the building built post-2004 tsunami are very solid. We, and no
doubt every Aceh resident, felt very
lucky.

We were quite exhausted by the previous day’s excitement,
and had a lot of communication to catch up with, and so decided another day to
recover in Banda Aceh would be a
good idea. We visited the cute little Aceh museum (at 8 cents each, it is the
cheapest museum entry of our travels!), and ended up at a school party on the
same grounds that had something to do with the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday. It
was fantastic to see the little kids singing, dancing and playing drums to
traditional Acehnese music, and sit and chat with the proud parents. After the
show, we were seated with the VIPs, and fed delicious Acehnese food and drinks
until we burst! Many people in this town work with, or have in the past worked
with foreign NGO’s and can speak quite good English, so we were spoiled with
decent conversation, and being able to ask questions.

Museum picture, Banda Aceh

School celebrations, Banda Aceh

School celebrations, Banda Aceh

School celebrations, Banda Aceh

School celebrations, Banda Aceh

The lovely women who work at the hotel we were staying in
had very limited English, so we were surprised when we asked in our bad
Indonesian about the bus to our next destination, Takengon, they simply called a number for us, told us the price,
and said we would be picked up the next morning at 9 am! So easy- got to love
Indonesia for that!

We didn’t fancy the overnight bus back to Medan, and slow road to Lake Toba looked enticing and more
adventurous. We were a bit apprehensive about the trip to Takengon, as we had heard it was very long, and on very winding and
bad roads, but after we were picked up (early!) and the small bus half filled
with a friendly family, we alternately slept and enjoyed the scenery of
mountains and ramshackle villages. The roads were fine, we had plenty of room,
and although it was raining the second half of the trip, the driver was very
steady and careful. Even the two smokers sat in the front, away from us. The
other end we were dropped at our losmen
(small guesthouse) and fell into a heavenly sleep.

Losmen, Takengon

Takengon is the
capital of the GayoHighlands in central Aceh province. The Gayo people here are
very religious, like the Acehnese, but see much fewer tourists, and are
therefore much more curious and friendly.

Takengon

Takengon

Takengon

Takengon

Takengon

We fell in love with the mountains around Laut Tawar Lake
and the breathtaking views, and experienced some of the rain and cold climate
that’s makes the area so beautiful and green. It was a bit of a shock to have
to get out our long sleeves and socks again, after so long!

On our first day out walking, we came across a local
wedding, and sticking our head around the door, we were welcomed in, once again
enjoying fabulous Acehnese food and hospitality, but drawing the line at
singing Indonesian karaoke. We felt especially awkward this time, as we had on
our oldest, smelliest clothes, and the wedding party was done up to the nines.
But no-one seemed to care in the slightest, and we enjoyed the spectacle for an
hour or so, before saying our goodbyes.

Wedding, Takengon

Wedding, Takengon

Wedding, Takengon

The dorky wedding guests, Takengon

After a few days of enjoying Takengon, with its fish farms, coffee plantations and smiley
residents, we left for Blangjekeran, another,
smaller GayoHighland town about 5 hours away. Again we had a pick up/drop off
bus service at our guesthouses, this time we enjoyed a two hour “scenic tour”
around the outskirts of Takengon
looking for missing passengers. “Don’t worry, Mister” the driver grinned at us
in the review mirror, as we pulled into the bus station where we had begun two
hours before. “Tidak masalah” we
wearily replied- “no problem” being a phrase we use a lot in Indonesia! The
trip was on steep and twisty, but beautiful roads, with scenery contrasting
between pine forest, jungle, and tiny villages with rice fields and woolly
goats. What we hadn’t realized was as a result of the recent torrential rain,
the road had virtually disappeared down the cliffs in parts, and other areas
were just being cleared of mud and debris so traffic could pass again. Sal was
blissfully unaware of this, thanks to her “zonk-out” pill, whereas Richard took
the opportunity to take photos of the damage, and hope we made it through
before the next landslide!

Road Takengon to Blangkejeran

Road Takengon to Blangkejeran

Road Takengon to Blangkejeran

Road Takengon to Blangkejeran

We found one of the few losmen
(guesthouses) in Blangkejeran town, and eventually enjoyed a lovely day exploring a scenic
village area outside of town. That is, after we had had a chat with the
daughter of our landlady, a chat with the owner of the warung (small food and drink stall) next door, chat with a friendly
resident who gave us tea at his house..........you get the picture! We had an
extreme experience in one tiny village, with what seemed like every single
resident come out to the street to stare at us in wonder, and kids screaming
with delight and terror at the sight of us. Our final evening was a real treat,
with Aceh noodles and Gayo coffee at the next door warung with some of the local “oldboys”, who were so kind, and even paid for our food and drinks
before they left, without us knowing.

Rice country, Blangkejeran

Bee in action, Blangkejeran

The duck man, Blangkejeran

New friend, warung, Blangkejeran

From the highlands into the jungle, and so to our next stop,
three hours down the (twisty, muddy and scenic, again!) road following the
raging Alas River to Ketambe. Arriving into the tiny village
we saw a tourist walking down the road- what a shock after 2 weeks without any,
although it turns out he was the only other foreigner in town! We were lucky
enough to find an oasis guesthouse in the jungle, with bungalows surrounded by a
lush flower and fruit garden, and a path up the hill to a waterfall, and plenty
of monkeys feeding. The peace and quiet after the towns we’ve visited was
welcome, and a deep night’s sleep was had - that is, until the morning, when our
newly arrived Indonesian tourist neighbor stuck her grinning head in our
bungalow window to have a look at us! We recharged the batteries here for a few
days, and prepared for a trip to Danau (Lake)
Toba, via an overnight stop in Kutacane.

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About Us

After traveling for several months of every year for the first 12 years of our lives together, in 2009 we found ourselves in the lucky position of being able to do it full time. So we sold our house, car and all our possessions (apart the contents of our backpacks) and have decided to base ourselves mostly in far away places for some time.